Fathers and Sons
by Filmnoir102
Summary: A Talespin oneshot loosely explaining how Kit came to the Iron Vulture and, for a short time, became Karnage's heir. Reviews appreciated!


**Author's note: My first Talespin fanfic in quite a long while. I do apologize for the simplicity of Kit's backstory. Either way, though, I'm quite proud of how this story came out; feel free to review and tell me what you thought!**

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Cape Suzette, 1936

The _Iron Vulture_ made its slow, sputtering way from the direction of Cape Suzette's cliff guns . Their flamboyant and egocentric leader, Don Karnage, had been yearning to loot the city for some time now; but time and time again the _Vulture_ was repelled by the city's cliff artillery.

"They make me so very angry!"

Karnage exclaimed, fists balled, acting not unlike a petulant child who'd been denied his candy. For the most part, there was a lasting silence from the _Iron Vulture's_ bridge. They knew better than to test their captain's nerves when he was at his most frustrated, nothing good would ever come of it.

"Maybe we'll get 'em next time, boss…."

Offered Hal, a rather plump and mangy-looking yellow cat, gulping down a probably-stale donut. Reassuring Karnage that he would do better next time was practically the only way to calm the wolf down when he was in such an outrage. Despite this, the reality remained unchanged: Disguising the _Iron Vulture_ , conning the Shore Patrol, etc. Nothing worked. The _Iron Vulture_ , as formidable as she was, simply lacked adequate weaponry to invade the famous coastal city of Cape Suzette. And there were few things that made Karnage more furious.

Karnage only narrowed his thick eyebrows and gave Hal an icy glare.

" _Maybe we'll get them next time_ ….. Enough, you loquacious layabout!"

He viciously backhanded Hal across the face. This was not an uncommon occurrence either.

"Time, and time again, the prince of plunder, Don Karnage- which is me- has tried, so courageously, to plunder the perfect paradise that is Cape Suzette. And everrry single time…."

He paused dramatically.

"They have shooted at us to tiny little bits! What I am meaning to say, my murderous minions, is that we are needing to _change_. Let us turn over a new tree, yes-no?"

Karnage stalked his way around the bridge, gesturing theatrically as he talked. He was beaming all the while, as though he had been the first person to realize they needed a change of tactics.

"What I am thinking is that we need a weapon, si? A weapon that is so powerful, so delightfully dangerous, that overpowering those annoying cliff guns will be a piece of steak!"

"Err, I vike steak, captain,"

Dumptruck suddenly interrupted.

"With French fries and extra sauce."

Frowning angrily, Karnage leaned close to Dumptruck's face and snarled:

"No one cares what you are liking, you boneheaded blunderer!"

Turning back to address the rest of his crew, Karnage cleared his throat rather loudly and continued:

"As I was saying….. What we are needing is a weapon strong enough to turn the cliff guns into tiny miniscule little-type pieces. Does anybody have any suggestions?"

Just as Karnage finished speaking, thunder crashed loudly in the distance, causing a few Air Pirates to practically jump out of their seats. After that, though, some of the gathered canines began to mutter amongst themselves, eager to be the center of their captain's attention; however briefly. After a few minutes, unsurprisingly, it was the raggedly-dressed Gibber who stepped forward and whispered something into Karnage's ear.

Karnage raised an eyebrow dramatically, but kept nodding enthusiastically as Gibber spoke.

"Si, si, Gibber, I see. Very good!"

Gibber smirked obnoxiously and walked off, his job having been done. Then, Karnage stepped aside for a few minutes more and began conferring with Ratchet in hushed tones. Whatever they were talking about, Ratchet seemed eager to be discussing it, his eyes lit up and he was grinning widely when the conversation had finished.

"It seems that Gibber, for once, has gotten a very clever idea into his tiny, pint-sized brain. Our very own mechanical genius, Ratchet, has very generously agreed to bring this idea to fruition."

Ratchet blushed profusely at this.

"Ratchet, come, come. Tell our unintelligent underlings about our most gloriousest plan!"

Ratchet hurried up to join Karnage, smiling excitedly all the while.

"Well, you see,"

He began.

"What the captain here has in mind is that we could throw together something called a lightning gun."

This elicited many oohs and aahs from the crew members, most of whom were rather dull-witted.

"It would be made from scrap metal, just about anything we can plunder. Of course, it'll need a powerful source to generate all that energy from, but I'm working on that. So, basically, it's a fantastically powerful weapon that will strike the cliff gunners so fast they won't know what hit 'em!"

This drew even louder cheers and applause from the other Pirates, prompting Ratchet to take a bow. To Karnage, he said:

"I'll have some blueprints together by the end of the week, sir."

The wolf smirked conceitedly.

"Excellentisimo, Ratchet, you never fail to delight."

He chuckled a bit.

"You may be running off now,"

And, like any good henchman, Ratchet hurried off. Before Karnage could say anything else, however, the heavy steel doors of the bridge swung open and Mad Dog came hurrying in, accompanied by Hacksaw. Hacksaw was dragging around a very young bear cub by the arm, he wore a patched and ill-fitting sweater; and had the scraggly, unkempt look of someone who probably did not have a permanent housing situation.

"Let go of me!"

The young bear snarled, letting loose with a string of expletives that instantly made Karnage smile at his unexpected boldness. And what he did next was perhaps even more interesting: he reached up and brutally punched Hacksaw in the snout, causing a bright spray of blood to come leaking out.

"Mad Dog, Hacksaw! Just what is the meaning of all this violence?"

Karnage chided, shaking his head condescendingly at Hacksaw's weak attempts to restrain the struggling bear cub.

"We found him in the cargo hold, cap'n, and look what he had with him!"

Mad Dog handed over a peculiar-looking metal disc of some sort. It was surprisingly large, and looked as though a teenager could comfortably stand on it. Karnage glanced over it curiously, running a single claw over the smooth surface. He had never seen anything like this before, and his interest had definitely been piqued.

"You give that back right now, you sick creep! It's mine!"

The boy rasped, eyes ablaze. Karnage only narrowed his eyes and motioned to Hacksaw-

"Hacksaw, put that poor boy down."

"Okay, cap'n."

The muscled canine complied and dropped his hostage none too gently onto the floor. Karnage sighed heavily.

"Where are your manners, Hacksaw? We treat all our guests here with kindness and hospitaltality, do we not?"

Hacksaw wrung his huge paws together nervously and muttered some incoherent apologies, but Karnage's attention had turned to the bear- who had since picked himself up off the floor and was glowering furiously up at the wolf.

"And just who are you, my smart little stowaway?"

"My name's Kit,"

He muttered sulkily, arms crossed.

"Are you having a second name?"

"It's just Kit, all right?"

He snapped, and Karnage had a feeling this was all Kit would say on the subject.

"This is quite the tantalizing toy you are having,"

Karnage said, gently running a paw over the surface of the strange object; trying to brighten the mood just a little.

"It isn't a toy,"

Kit corrected, still sounding sullen.

"My father made it for me. Are you going to give me that back, or what?"

The Air Pirate captain chuckled a little.

"Oh, your father made it for you, how very charming!"

To Hacksaw and Mad Dog he said:

"Shoo, shoo, off with you now. I would like to have a word with little Senor Kit in, how you say…..Privately."

He shoved roughly past Hacksaw and Mad Dog and grabbed Kit by the arm, taking him by surprise.

"Hey, what's going on? Where the heck are you taking me, you slime?"

"Patience, patience, my boy, and you will see….."

Looking quite smug all the while, Karnage led Kit down a narrow, dimly-lit corridor and into his office; slamming the door behind them with a bang. He shoved Kit into a rickety-looking chair with three legs, then took a seat at his own desk, dumping Kit's strange contraption onto the surface. The desk was already cluttered, covered in sheets and sheets of parchment paper, miscellaneous gold coins, as well as an antique inkwell and feather quill.

"It is not every day that we are having a stowaway on the mighty, magnificent _Iron Vulture_ , let alone one as young and unsophisticated as yourself. Most impressive."

He steepled his fingers.

"Just how old are you, my boy?"

Kit shrugged.

"I'm eleven."

"Eleven…..How very interesting."

Karnage mumbled. To say the least, he found Kit's recklessness more than a little grating, yet he could not help but admire the boy's clear audacity. When he was eleven years old, he would not nearly have been brave enough to go sneaking off into a strange aircraft, let alone fly around on some odd, disc-shaped little device….. When he was eleven….. Karnage shuddered and brushed the inevitable dark memories aside, where they belonged.

"So. Tell me. What is this intriguing little invention you have?"

He indicated the disk, currently sitting on the center of his desk. Kit swallowed hard, beginning to lose just a bit of his nerve. Clearly, this was not an easy subject for him to discuss.

"It's something my father made, years ago, you can ride it. He was an inventor, y'know? It's called an airfoil, it was supposed to be a prototype, but….."

Karnage's brow furrowed, and he indicated for the boy to continue.

"But what…..?"

Kit was silent for a long moment before finally answering, awkwardly:

"Look, my dad passed away, years ago. So did my mom. And it's not open for discussion, especially not with some raving lunatic like you…."

Karnage did not take kindly to being called a lunatic, but it was still far better than being called the dreaded c-word he hated so much.

"I see, I see…."

Karnage nodded as though he understood. But actually, he did understand, in some ways. Hearing that Kit was an orphan resonated with him, just the slightest. After all, his own mother had died when he was only eight, and afterwards…. Karnage did his best not to sigh irritably.

Such painful and scarring memories had a way of working their way back to the surface, especially when they were not wanted. Still, hearing this bit of Kit's story made him just a little more sympathetic in Karnage's eyes, but regardless, he was still much more interested in the little device called the airfoil…

"How long have you been on your own, Kit? A boy of your precociousness should not be running around without his parents."

Kit hesitated, but then answered:

"About a year."

"And where were you being before this?"

Kit scowled bitterly. Clearly he had memories of his own he did not wish to dwell upon.

"An orphanage. I hated it there."

Karnage clucked his tongue sympathetically, and then gave a sly smile.

"Well, well, well, my puny protégé…. I am having an idea. How would you like never to return to that appalling place?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Kit looked wary, unsure.

But Karnage had a plan, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Admittedly, the bear cub's backstory had unexpectedly struck a chord with him. He could all too easily pity the poor boy; having been orphaned, and thrown all too roughly into a strange new environment beyond his understanding. Karnage had suffered similar experiences in his own youth, unfortunately.

Judging by Kit's scraggly appearance; it was obvious he'd been living on his own and with no one to care for him. And this was a shameful fate to befall such a young boy who was already quite clever for his age. And Karnage knew he had the perfect idea on how to approach this situation: Judging by the fact that he could already fly well enough to hitch a ride on the Iron Vulture, the bear clearly had some potential to become a talented Air Pirate himself once he was older!

Seeing as how he had no children of his own, biological or adopted, Karnage thought it was a brilliant idea to take the orphaned boy under his wing, so to speak, train him to become his heir and successor. Karnage felt ridiculously proud of himself for having come up with such a plan, it was practically foolproof!

To Kit, he said:

"You see, my boy, you are orphaned and are having no parents, yes-no?"

"Yeah…."

Kit replied, still cautious and unsure of where Karnage was taking this.

"And you are having no desire to return to that awful orphanage type-place, si?"

Suddenly it dawned on Kit.

"….You want to take me in?!"

He exclaimed, both surprised and shocked at such a proposal.

"Si, I thought it was rather clever."

Kit was silent a moment, taking all of this in.

"Look, mister, that's awfully nice of you; but I barely know you…. Isn't your name Karnage or something?"

"My name is Captain Don Felipe Karnage- roll the r- and do not be wearing and tearing it out!"

"Well, okay then, mist- I mean _Captain_ Karnage….. What's in it for me?"

Karnage smiled wolfishly.

"I am so very glad you asked….. To begin, it is clear you are liking to fly. I am especially interested in this little arrow-foil of yours. How would you like to become my heir, my student, my plundering protégé, if you will? Flying the skies all day without a care in the world…."

Karnage's eyes gleamed as he spoke, and Kit hesitated just a little.

"Well….. I always _did_ want to be a pilot."

"Why be a pilot, my boy, when you can be a **pirate?** A pirate of the skies! There is a whole wide world of plunder out there, and someday, all of it will be yours for the taking….."

Kit took about a minute before he spoke. Karnage's deal was certainly tempting. And now that the Pirate Captain mentioned it, it did sound like a wonderful life…. Freely surfing the clouds on his airfoil, all sorts of priceless treasures out there with his name practically written on them….. He'd wanted to be an airplane pilot practically as long as he could remember, but as a pirate, who knew what sort of thrilling adventures awaited him? And best of all, he would never have to return to that terrible orphanage where no one had cared for him, and he went to bed hungry more often than not…..

Karnage was looking expectantly at him, and Kit knew he would have to make a decision, and a snap one at that. He took a deep breath and thought it over, eventually coming to a decision that he was confident in.

"Well,"

He began, exhaling the breath he was holding.

"Aye, aye, captain. Count me in."

"Excellent!"

Karnage reached across the desk and offered his paw. Kit shook it enthusiastically.

"I knew a brilliant boy such as yourself would know the right choice when he was hearing it."

Before Kit could say anything else, the wolf added, conspiratorially:

"Let me be telling you a little secret…... I, too, am knowing what it is like to go through what you did."

For a moment, Karnage looked faraway and even a little bit sad.

"My mama, too, left this world when I was young. But let us not be dwelling on the sadness!"

He quickly returned to his usual arrogant and flamboyant self, though Kit was obviously surprised at this sudden revelation.

"Tomorrow, when my crew and I go plundering again, we shall teach you all about what it means to be an Air Pirate. But alas, I must be off! We will be landing at Pirate Island in exactly….."

Karnage glanced up at the clock on the wall.

"Five minuets. Au revoir!"

And with that, he got up from his desk and made his way to the door. But before Karnage could leave, however, Kit had one more question:

"Hey, Captain? What is Pirate Island, anyway?"

Karnage, looking quite smug all the while, explained:

"I thought you would never ask! Pirate Island is my astounding abode, which you will be seeing with your eyes in five short minuets. Au revoir, my boy!"

He gave a manic, high-pitched laugh and promptly left the room. Seeing as how he had little else to do, Kit left a few minutes later; hardly able to believe all that had transpired. It was a massive understatement to say that he didn't think hitching a ride on the behemoth of the _Iron Vulture_ would have this amazing outcome.

Admittedly, he'd been foolish and hadn't thought things through. Kit had only stowed away on the great ship in the first place with the intent of stealing a few items of little value, perhaps selling them in exchange for food. But he'd gotten caught rather quickly, and unpleasantly manhandled by two of Karnage's goons, who'd taken him straight to their captain.

Kit didn't quite know what to think of Karnage, really. He had strange mannerisms and seemed incredibly self-centered, but at least he wasn't cruel or hateful. If anything, Karnage seemed to genuinely care about him, and seemed sincere about taking Kit under his wing, raising him as his own. Regardless, Kit could not help but be curious as to the past Karnage had alluded to, and about the mother who'd died when he was young….. But still, it was not his business; and it was definitely not his place to ask, either.

On the subject of Karnage's lackeys, Kit was more neutral about them. From what he'd seen of them, they'd seemed coarse and not-too intelligent, but he'd supposed he would have to get used to them somehow. The young bear was sure he would probably get used to them eventually, anyway- and in his position, beggars definitely couldn't be choosers.

And better still, the prospect of life as an Air Pirate was an extremely thrilling one to Kit. Finally, he would have a place to live, and he'd get to live a life of adventure, too. He could plunder whatever he wanted and soar the skies to his heart's content! Like Karnage had mentioned, there was a whole world out there, just waiting to be explored… And now that he was a pirate, nobody would ever call him names or pick on him ever again!

As Kit made his way out of Don Karnage's office, Air Foil tucked safely under one arm, he felt resoundingly hopeful; more than he ever had within the past few years. The circumstances under which it had all happened were still pretty unbelievable, but no matter. He was still over the moon with happiness about what all of this meant for him. Because, for better or for worse, he had a family now. This was home.


End file.
